I thought Episode 2 was mostly better than Episode 1… except for one particular aspect of it that almost lost me. I was all ready to dive headfirst into Bad Guy until that scene gave me pause. I’m still interested because everything else is so intriguing, but it pinged my earlier misgivings about story contrivances. Will discuss more later. But also:

Hot damn, when did Kim Jae-wook learn to act?? Oh, he always had tons of charisma — and a ridiculously beautiful face — and by all reports he was pretty good in Antique Bakery. But he’s just never shown this kind of depth.

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EPISODE 2 RECAP

After the skydive goes awry, actress Hye-joo is taken to the hospital (though not for serious injuries) while Gun-wook, who’s more used to physical traumas, is fine. The action director asks what went wrong, since Gun-wook was responsible for checking the gear. Gun-wook casts a look back at Da-rim but merely says that the string must have frayed.

Da-rim apologizes for her sabotage, but when he asks if she feels better at having gotten back at the hateful Hye-joo, she admits that she did. However, she adds that she felt like crying when she saw them falling, and thanks him for being understanding.

Da-rim’s teary bashfulness turns indignant when he gives her a box to give to Hye-joo — so he’s still going to pursue her? She’d felt like they were on the same page, and this makes her peevish (plus, it seems Da-rim is harboring a crush on him). She peeks inside the box to see a folded paper crane.

Here’s what I’m confused about, though it’s a minor point — why did Gun-wook go up in the air with faulty parachutes? Even if he didn’t directly see Da-rim cutting the cord, he knew she was messing around, and maintaining safety was his duty. Was he testing Da-rim to see if she’d go through with it? Was he trying to see if she’d rise above it? Did he want to give Hye-joo a scare? It seems careless of him, regardless. Gun-wook may exude a reckless air, but he’s quite calculated about his risks, and he isn’t actually self-destructive — he’s got too much vengeance to wreak to treat his life so lightly.

Meanwhile, the Hong family gathers for Mo-nae’s birthday party, except the guest of honor hasn’t arrived yet. She drives to the hotel from the yacht, but takes a time-out before joining the party, feeling bitter about her cheating fiancé and people in general.

Gun-wook comes upon Mo-nae sitting outside and joins her. At any other time she’d be thrilled to see him, but today she can barely muster a small smile. She asks if he went skydiving today and with whom, and he — not betraying that he knows why she’s asking — answers that he went with the actress. Mo-nae sighs that she hates “the adults” who have spoiled her birthday — her disillusionment with her fiancé has spilled over into other aspects her life. (It’s not like she was forced kicking and screaming into the engagement, but she was never given a choice, either.)

Gun-wook gets up and plucks a couple of flower stems from the foliage and presents them to Mo-nae. A little bashfully, he says he doesn’t know how old she is — will two “candles” do? Mo-nae smiles at his silly gesture and pretends to blow out the candles.

And then, a brash intruder: It’s her older brother, prodigal son Hong Tae-sung (Kim Jae-wook). He treats Gun-wook with suspicion, addresses him rudely, and leads his sister away.

Gun-wook, understanding who this is, stares intensely at Tae-sung and crumples the forgotten flower stem, then drops it.

He watches the family gathering from outside their banquet hall, staring through the glass. From the outside, it looks much more pleasant than it is on the inside, where tensions mount with the increasing churlishness of Tae-sung, who clearly has issues with his family.

The event starts off civil enough, though Mo-nae is subdued. President Hong gently chides his son for showing up unannounced, to which his wife says that she called him here — why she shouldn’t she? Everyone knows Tae-sung is the bastard half-brother, but Madam Shin is the one who tries to pretend that it makes no difference.

When fiancé Se-joong introduces himself, Tae-sung mocks his father’s choice in engaging Mo-nae to such an ajusshi. His voice is right on that cutting edge between a laugh and a sneer, like a rebellious teenager who can’t resist stirring up fights to get out his misplaced aggressions. Tae-ra mutters for him to stop it; his father tells him to eat or leave, to which Tae-sung gets up and stalks out. Mo-nae, also upset with her family, follows him out.

His identity has obviously been a huge factor in the way Tae-sung has seen the world. Although his childhood wasn’t as traumatic as Gun-wook’s, it’s no surprise that Tae-sung, who came to the Hong family when he was old enough to understand that he was the black sheep, would have grown up slightly less than perfectly adjusted. His family chooses to think of Tae-sung as a reckless troublemaker, but it seems more likely that he’s acting out against them.

As for the murder/suicide case: It seems we were supposed to suspect Gun-wook as the dead girl’s boyfriend, although hawk-eyed viewers may have picked up on the fact that the crane left at her point of impact was a folded photograph of Tae-sung, who turns out to be the real boyfriend. The two investigators intercept him at the airport and take him in for questioning.

Gun-wook, not one to miss out on this small triumph, is there to witness the encounter.

After all, he has been working for quite some time to orchestrate his Grand Revenge. A back room of his apartment houses sprawling research on the Hong clan like the bunker of a serial killer mastermind, which I admit takes a bit off the luster from the whole Sexy Bastard Kim Nam-gil appeal. Not entirely, but just a bit.

This pretty much confirms that every encounter Gun-wook has had with the Hongs has been premeditated, including the yacht landing and the gradual romancing of Mo-nae. He’d pretended not to know her age, but it’s likely he knows not only her age but every detail of her life since birth.

This deal with birthdays spins Gun-wook off into another painful flashback, which features his first birthday celebrated with the Hongs. First and last — it was on that day that his father received word that they’d gotten the wrong Tae-sung. How were they fooled? Did that deaf-mute swindle them? Without bothering to work out the details, all that matters is that this Tae-sung is not their Tae-sung, and the family kicks him out calling him an impostor. As though the boy could have schemed this all up on his own.

He’d cried and begged for them to let him in, but they had left him outside in the rain, and he, not knowing what else to do, had huddled out in the cold outside their gate.

Tae-sung is interrogated about his dead ex Sun-young, joined at the station by his current girlfriend. He remains silent throughout, mentally elsewhere. New Cop shows amusement at the girlfriend’s alibi for Tae-sung on the night in question; she retorts, “Do you thing we were in there studying?” She recognizes the woman in the photo as the girl who had once stormed in on them angrily and pleaded with Tae-sung — he had broken things off suddenly and she hadn’t accepted it.

This leads us into another flashback, which is the memory upon which Tae-sung has fixated his thoughts. He recalls the time he had brought Sun-young to a lunch with his parents, presenting her as the woman he would marry.

As we have already seen, his relationship with his family is complicated and tense, and he can’t get through a simple conversation without making snarky digs — at his family, yes, but also at his girlfriend. His derision is directed at his parents, but Sun-young is a casualty — he knew before bringing her here that she would not meet with their approval, but he highlights her situation in the worst possible way. She’s older than him, she has no family. Tae-ra warns him to cut it out and apologizes to Sun-young, but he says flippantly that it’s okay because his girlfriend has no pride.

Everyone mutters for him to stop it, but Madam Shin smiles and invites him to continue, like she’s challenging him to do his worst. So he gets back at her by bringing up that sore topic: “She resembles Mother.” But, “Not you, the mother who gave birth to me.” Madam Shin taunts back, “Where is she? Does she even exist?” He counters, “Then did I fall from the sky?”

The parents leave the table early, and the sisters leave to give the couple some space. Tae-sung says that this is how he’s treated in his family, but when Sun-young talks to him sympathetically, he turns his scorn to her. How can she still want to marry him? Her kindness just makes him angry and he yells at her, saying she should have gotten his point. He orders her never to show herself in front of him again.

I’m sensing that underneath the spoiled brat facade is a self-destructive, angry man, and underneath that layer is a lonely boy who just wants some love and acceptance. Sun-young probably sees that in him and I suspect that he connects with her on one level, but that rich-boy shell is so strong that it also makes him act out against her, which is why he so easily cut her off.

Now Tae-sung finds the spot where she fell from the roof and stares blankly down at it. The security guard assumes that he finds the chalk outline unseemly and starts to erase it, but Tae-sung tells him not to. He falls to his knees, wracked with sobs, reaching out to touch the space within the outline. His hand shakes as it hovers above the space as though wanting to touch the person to whom it belongs, but unable to. He cries, “This isn’t how it was supposed to be.”

Watching nearby with utterly no sympathy — no reaction, even — is Gun-wook, playing with his flame again.

We’ve been given plenty of reason for his vendetta against the Haeshin Group family, but another flashback shows us even more. We resume where we left off, and young Tae-sung/Gun-wook is waiting in the rain when the Hongs return home with the current Tae-sung. They’re startled to see the boy still here — his other parents were supposed to come to pick him up.

They’re on their way, infuriated with this treatment — didn’t those rich people promise to take good care of Tae-sung? If they were just going to send him back, they should never have taken him away in the first place! Overcome with righteous anger, Mom urges Deaf Dad to hurry.

All the while, the dog has been wandering around pathetically in the rain and finally runs off, his leash slipping from the boy’s hand. It races into traffic, right as the parents’ truck comes along… and swerves… into oncoming traffic… and skids in the rain…

…and OH GOOD LORD you have gotta fucking be kidding me. The truck overturns and kill the parents, but Gun-wook doesn’t realize this — he’s fixated on the dog, which lies in a soggy mess beside him. He urges the dog to get up, asking why it won’t respond, and then — TO KILL YOU MORE — he takes out his hearing aid, meant for now-dead Dad, and holds it up to the dog’s ear. All while bleeding from the huge gash in his back.

Arrrrghhhhh#@#$asdfjkl;%^&*(^@$%^&*()(*&.

Sorry, but this makes me lose my mind just a little. This scene almost made me give up entirely on this drama — not because I can’t stand to see an animal die (although there is that), but the fact that they could go for such a cheap sob story with his childhood. I actually think this detracts from Adult Gun-wook’s vendetta, but I’ll get more into that in the comments section. And after that we will speak of this no more.

Sisters Jae-in and Won-in go out for a snack, and watch a TV report of the lady who committed suicide after being dumped by her rich boyfriend. Won-in jokingly warns Jae-in not to pursue her Catch A Chaebol scheme, because she could wind up like that woman. If she knew that she was Tae-sung’s ex, perhaps she’d actually reconsider.

Jae-in realizes that the suicide occurred near the intersection where she hit that guy with her car, but she dismisses Little Sis’s musings that he might be connected with the dead woman. Jae-in fiddles with the paper crane and ponders, “That guy had a scar on his back. But for some strange reason, it wasn’t scary.”

In the wee morning hours, Won-in walks up to the bus stop only to realize she has left her wallet at home. She turns to the other person on the bench — Gun-wook — to ask to borrow a dollar (1,000 won), but his gaze is firmly fixed on something in the distance and he doesn’t register her at all. Won-in starts searching his pockets for some cash, even reaching into his pants — bold girl! — and retrieves a bill, promising to pay him back. He remains unresponsive.

When she gets on the bus, she looks up curiously, wondering what the heck he’s so fixated on. All she can see is a plain ol’ office building marked Haeshin.

Hye-joo thinks that Gun-wook’s gift of the paper crane is an overture and flirtatiously calls him romantic. He indicates that there was actually more of a meaning to his gesture, leaving her confused — the vain movie star hasn’t bothered to actually look at it.

Upon opening the paper, she angrily confronts Da-rim, accusing her of swapping out his message. Then she figures that’s unlikely of her poor, stupid assistant and storms into the action school in high dudgeon, not caring that it’s the men’s locker room.

Hye-joo finds Gun-wook in the shower and shuts off his water, demanding to know what he means by this. (And I’m sure I’m not the only one who was just waiting for her to look down, lol. She doesn’t, which just confirms that she’s an idiot.) The crane was folded from the check that her date gave him to shut up about the accident. Gun-wook drawls that she should know what he meant by it, which pisses her off even more.

Mightily miffed, she rips up the check and drops it on the ground. Unperturbed, Gun-wook turns on the shower, washing the pieces toward the drain.

Another stuntman witnesses the exchange and later sneaks in to grab the pieces of the check. The action director finds the last crucial piece and argues for a cut of the total.

Tae-sung dozes on the couch, and wakes up to the voice of his dead girlfriend calling him to eat. He sees Sun-young standing there in the kitchen, just like normal, and stares in disbelief. But it’s all in his head, and he has imagined it all.

I wondered if this was a sign that he was losing a hold on reality due to guilt, but the next day he walks into the Haeshin building looking as assured as ever. He strides in full of purpose, but is stopped by the guards, who don’t recognize him and laugh when he insists he’s President Hong’s son. Everyone “in the know” is aware of Tae-sung’s identity, but the outside world only knows of one son (his elder brother, who also works for the company).

Tae-sung pretends to give up, then dashes past security and races inside, locking himself in the announcement booth. His voice booms in on the PA system throughout the entire building:

Tae-sung: “Father, are you listening? You know who I am, right? Your son Hong Tae-sung. But all these damned employees don’t know who I am, so I’m here to tell them, I’M THE SON OF THIS COMPANY!”

He adds that he’s going to Japan for good, so “have a nice life.” Jae-in looks up in interest when the announcement comes on, while President Hong chuckles in amusement, saying, “That’s my son!”

Mo-nae drives along, and while she’s paused at a stop light, a stranger opens the passenger door and surprises the bejeezus out of her — until she sees that it’s Gun-wook and is excited to see him.

Jae-in pulls up to the light by their car and recognizes Mo-nae, but stops from calling out a greeting when she registers Mo-nae’s unfamiliar companion. He’s not her fiancé, so who could it be?

Jae-in delivers a new art acquisition to Madam Shin, who is thrilled at the find. Tae-ra asks about Jae-in’s friendship with Mo-nae, and it turns out that Jae-in was hired to teach Mo-nae about art. Madam Shin had sent the two on a six-week trip through Europe the past year, with Jae-in acting as governess-companion.

Tae-ra finds Jae-in’s polite and respectful demeanor pleasing, and after Jae-in leaves she asks her mother to whose family she belongs. That’s rich people code for “Is she someone important?” and Madam Shin says her family is nobody to speak of — but she likes her too, because Jae-in is smart and “knows her place.” This means that Madam Shin (and therefore all rich people) can rest easy that she will never overreach and press her inferior presence upon them. Or at least that’s her gist.

Hearing that Mo-nae is at her music/dance studio, Jae-in drops by, curious to know who her companion was. Her excuse for the visit is to present her with a more appropriate birthday present, and then she asks about the guy in the car. Mo-nae is taken aback and fumbles for an excuse, not ready to share about her relationship with Gun-wook, and says that it was just her oppa. As she is keen to learn more about Tae-sung, Jae-in interprets this to mean that the guy was Tae-sung, and Mo-nae doesn’t correct her.

While Jae-in muses lightly that she envies Mo-nae — she’s rich, she has so many opportunities — Mon-ae responds that she’s actually envious of Jae-in. That idea is so surprising that Jae-in laughs — nobody’s ever envied the poor girl who worked her way up, but Mo-nae probably wishes she had Jae-in’s freedom as an independent adult.

Mo-nae is expecting a visitor so Jae-in leaves, but notices upon her exit that Gun-wook is arriving. Since she believes him to be Tae-sung, she watches with particular interest.

Gun-wook comes upon Mo-nae as she’s rehearsing, and she eagerly draws him into the studio, engaging him in a silly dance with her.

However, the doorbell marks the arrival of two unexpected visitors, and Mo-nae looks around nervously. She pushes Gun-wook into another room and shuts the door just as Tae-ra enters with Se-joong in tow.

Mo-nae tries to act (very unsuccessfully) like nothing’s the matter. She’s distracted and jittery, and spills juice all over the table. Just as she bursts out that they should go outside, a noise sounds from the other room. Mo-nae can’t even think of a way to explain, and stands in shock as Tae-ra goes to check on the sound. In her nervousness she drops a glass, which shatters on the ground, and a shard cuts her finger.

Tae-ra looks around for the source of the sound — and comes face to face with Gun-wook, who slides open the door and steps out.

He’s hardly one to sit in the dark hiding from someone, and now Gun-wook looks at a stunned Tae-ra and says smoothly, “We meet again.” He tells Mo-nae that she doesn’t have a harmonica, so they’ll have to put off their “lesson.” It’s a lame excuse, but Se-joong accepts the explanation that he’s one of her music teachers easily enough.

Tae-ra excuses herself to talk to the “teacher,” and catches up to Gun-wook at the elevators. She demands to know why he is here and why he keeps showing up around Mo-nae.

This next exchange is rife with double meanings, which add a nervous tension to the air and keep Tae-ra on edge. For instance, he starts by saying, “I wanted to see you.” (He means it literally and casually, but the phrase can also be interpreted to mean “I missed you,” which is the effect it has on Tae-ra.) Gun-wook adds, “Because it’s not easy to forget the person who hurt you.” Again he’s being literal — he’s referring to the injury she inflicted upon his face — but this also has a more ominous undertone given his revenge plot.

Tae-ra is generally a bit high-strung, but in conjunction with her shock at seeing Gun-wook, she’s particularly jumpy now. She hears his words in their more poetic light, until he clarifies himself, laughing that she didn’t “misunderstand” his meaning, did she? His comment mocks her for thinking exactly what he was misleading her to think. Tae-ra lashes out to slap him, but he grabs her wrist, noting idly, “It’s warm.”

Mo-nae comes running up and tells her sister not to misunderstand. Flinging off Tae-ra’s grasp, she runs into the elevator to join Gun-wook, doors sliding shut on her sister’s face. Anxiously, Tae-ra looks up at the lit panel, waiting to see where the elevator stops.

Mo-nae starts to apologize for her sister, while Gun-wook asks about Se-joong — he’s an exec director for a large company, right? Mo-nae says she’s sorry, as though she hurt him by being with another man. He replies that it doesn’t matter, since it’s not like they’re dating.

And here he makes his exit; instead of waiting for the elevator to hit the ground floor, he gets off on the 10th. He pauses to tell her in a gentle voice, “Mo-nae, meet a good man. Someone who only looks at you.” The implication is that Se-joong is not that guy, and that Gun-wook wants better for her.

The affection in his voice makes Mo-nae step toward him, and he looks at her bleeding finger, lifting it up as though he wants to suck the blood like you do when you’ve cut yourself. But then he stops, remembering, “I shouldn’t do this. Sorry. Ask that man to bandage it for you.”

Ah, so crafty of him — this is all a calculated move designed to win over Mo-nae’s heart, and Gun-wook is playing the part of the concerned, unworthy oppa to the hilt. Everything he does is to give off the impression that he’d take better care of her than her cheating fiancé, except that he’s not worthy of such a refined girl and therefore won’t press his suit on her.

But for Mo-nae, being young and inexperienced and fast falling in love, this is the encouragement she needs to convince her that he reciprocates her feelings. Growing bold, she steps forward and turns into his chest for an embrace.

Just then, Tae-ra emerges to see her sister holding on to Gun-wook. And as she takes in the sight, upset, Gun-wook stares straight at her as he raises his arm to cradle Mo-nae, as though in challenge.

Angrily, Tae-ra grabs her sister and takes her back up.

Meanwhile, Jae-in waits in a nearby cafe for sign of Gun-wook. When he emerges, she gets her own scheme into motion — she orders a cup of coffee to go, then hurries around the corner so that she’ll run into Gun-wook from the opposite direction.

And run into him she does — literally, so that the contents of the cup and its deliberately loosened lid spill all over his shirt.

Apologizing profusely, she uses this as an opening to pretend she recognizes him — he’s Hong Tae-sung, right? That is so out of left field that he stares back at her in confusion, and she explains that she saw him in the car with Mo-nae, who had identified him as her brother Tae-sung.

Jae-in gives them her card and introduces herself, trying for that lightly flirting air. But Gun-wook dismisses her and walks away.

COMMENTS

First off, this drama has a fabulous soundtrack and score. We’ll see if I still think that at the end — dramas have a tendency to overuse their music selections — but for now, everything is used wonderfully and draws out the emotions of the scenes, without being overpowering.

The reason I hated — haaaated — the backstory reveal is because it (in my opinion) cheapens Gun-wook’s basis for revenge. Yeah it’s tragic, but it’s also so overwrought and obvious. His dog is the cause for his parents’ death, and he loses them all as well as his identity in one night? Oh, sob. This drama was doing so well, but you know how someone can be telling a lie and it’s all very interesting and believable until they push it one step too far, and then you feel like a dupe for falling for it? They pushed it about a mile too far with this. As a story point I can make myself swallow this and move on — but this does make me worry that we’ll see more of this kind of overdone melodrama resurface later in the series, which worries me. (Also: If there were TWO accidents, I hate it even more. Seriously? Two accidents, coincidentally on the same night, coincidentally at the same time when Gun-wook is waiting for his parents? Arghaksjdf;laksjd;faj;dkajf; going a little crazy again.)

Plus, I feel like this tragic turn lightens the misdeeds of the Hongs — it makes the situation sad, but sorta not their fault anymore. You know what I would have loved? If the Hongs had let Gun-wook go back to his old parents, but then accused Deaf Dad of fraud (President Hong tosses out that comment in his initial outburst), and sued the family. Or he could have sent Dad off to prison. Or both. The lawsuit would have ruined them financially and Mom would have worked her ass off to make money to pay for their legal debts, and maybe died in an accident. Dad dies in prison, or some other way. Even if the Hongs didn’t kill them directly, that scenario makes them a lot more culpable, in my mind, because they’d be doing it purely to be punitive assholes. And then when Gun-wook sheds his identity as Tae-sung (which was the name he was born with), we would know exactly what the Hongs deserved.

I’m not saying that SHOULD be the way the drama did it. I’m just giving an example of a scenario that would keep the Hongs on the hook, that wouldn’t feel so cheesy with the dead dog and the rain and the car wreck and the hearing aid. Something that makes the Hongs more than just the first link in a tragic chain of events. With this reveal, I feel like the Hongs are snooty, but not murderers. What’s so wrong about wanting to claim their real son over one that is proven to be unrelated?

Maybe this is a lot of virtual ink on a relatively minor point (though I’d argue it’s not so minor), especially since aspects of this drama are so well-done. But I feel like Bad Guy has such potential to be awesome that I want everything about it to be awesome.

Kim Jae-wook is a welcome surprise, isn’t he? Like I said, he’s never been bad — but for a guy who got his start modeling and was cast in Coffee Prince because he fit the image of a pretty boy, he’s shown a lot of growth in the acting department.

One thing I like about this drama is that Gun-wook is the bad guy of the title, and his adult character is unapologetic about all the stuff he’s pulling. Which is why I think there’s a limited effectiveness to the tragic childhood, which needs to avoid being overworked. If you overdo the backstory in an attempt to humanize him, what’s the point of making him a vengeful bad guy in the first place, right?

I also like that this drama makes the chaebol feel real. We’ve seen so many dramas feature the chaebol character but he’s really just shorthand for Prince Charming. A lot of those guys don’t need to be chaebols, but they are made chaebols because it’s an appealing stock character. Here, however, the chaebols are ruthless, snooty, condescending, and realistic. Even when they can be nice, that’s just one bad day away from being utterly hateful (see: Tae-ra). And while Mo-nae is sweet and kind (and I actually really love the character, which is helped by Jung So-min’s naturalistic portrayal), she’s also ridiculously privileged. There’s an undercurrent in the story that makes me think that the drama is an indictment of the rich, which is a thread I’m interested in following.

SPECULATION AND THEORIES

First off, I just love the fact that I can even have a “Speculation and Theories” subsection. As I was writing my comments I realized I would prefer to keep my personal theories apart from the rest of the commentary, since they are merely speculation and will likely change as the drama continues.

Random thought: Is every single woman in this drama going to fall for Gun-wook? Because as sexy as I find Kim Nam-gil, I think that’s going to get mighty old.

I’m not sure if some might find discussion of the relationship charts on the website to be spoilery, so I’ll put up a [POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT]. The site identifies the relationship between Jae-in and Tae-sung to be romantic interest on his part, while her line indicates she’s using him. Jae-in and Gun-wook are set up as mutual love interests. This is pretty classic stuff — two people using one family for their own reasons, who end up falling for each other. I worry a bit for Han Ga-in, though, because as much as I think she’s improved, she’s not yet operating at full intensity levels, and I fear that she won’t be able to adequately portray Jae-in’s angsty love with Gun-wook. He’ll knock it out of the ballpark, I’m certain, but unless they’re on equal footing the romance won’t ring true. It doesn’t help that I find Jae-in to be the least interesting character, regardless of acting ability. [/END POTENTIAL SPOILER]

As for Gun-wook: He’s being pretty free and loose with the paper cranes, which puzzles me. You could argue that he WANTS his victims to know, like a serial killer marking his victims, but now that he has linked a crane to a murder scene, it just seems foolish.

There was a brief moment where I wondered if Gun-wook actually felt warmth for Mo-nae, since she’s much nicer than the rest of her family. But the Serial Killer Lair in his apartment — and the way he manipulates her in the elevator scene — are proof that he’s gunning for them all. Take no prisoners. Or maybe scorched earth is a better analogy. So he’s going to infiltrate Haeshin on multiple levels and destroy it from the inside out, right? And somewhere along the way he’ll fall for Jae-in, which will add complications, since she’s trying to seduce Tae-sung.

At first, I thought the drama was laying it on a little thick with Tae-ra’s reaction to Gun-wook — yeah, she can sense he’s a bad boy who’s not good for her innocent sister, but her immediate, extreme agitation seemed a little much. Then I thought, but what if she already knows him? And then things started to get more interesting. What if they already had an affair — or at least a flirtation — that she’d desperately like to forget? That makes his reach-into-her-shirt-to-extract-a-hair move much more intriguing — like she was afraid he would give away their prior acquaintance — and his challenging smirk as he courts Mo-nae takes on added meaning. Just a theory in progress…

That would be SO HOT if Gun-wook and Tae-ra had had an affair. And the “I wanted to see you / I missed you” would be so much more loaded if that was the case. But poor Mo-nae. She’s so nice and so young and naive – she definitely doesn’t deserve to be used by Gun-wook. Bah.

I have to agree with you about the childhood scene. I was like “Seriously? Seriously? I thought you could do better than this. Sheesh.” But I hope they don’t resort to that kind of hysteronics and emotional kicks to the head again. They have some great characters; I’d much prefer the tension and drama come from their interactions.

Thanks again for such a great recap and your thoughts and predictions, Javabeans!

I hope Gun-wook will go for revenge until the end and not be softened by anything or mid-drama change of plan crisis… maybe he and Hong Tae-sung will form an alliance in the end and one of them will die for a big ending, but anyways this drama is good for me atm.

See, this thing almost lost me when it broke one of my k-drama rules….thou shalt not kill a kid’s dog in your drama. You kill a kid’s dog, you are going to hear an angry momosan turning the channel. It came THAT (see little gap in fingers squinched together) close to making me turn off the channel.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the kid was plotting revenge for this particular event and I was busy being appalled by the Hongs throwing a kid out in the cold wet rain when apparently it was the fault of a mix up of records by the assistant, I’d have been switching away. Well, that and KNG, let’s face it. BTW, what was with the furniture? Just because the wrong kid used it, you throw it on the street too? Like he contaminated it? So Daddy Hong was all freaked about the wrong kid, but hey – man up and return the kid you essentially kidnapped intact, eh? So let’s say the family was killed on the way there and you send him to an orphanage…that’s bad enough – but the whole sit in rain, family dies BECAUSE of his dog, and then the DOG dies….oh drama, you are so close to the edge of losing me despite the sexy bastard.

I was thinking that waht GW actually meant by “find some nice man and get away” to Mo Ne at the elevator, was a real “get out while the getting is good” since she’s the least of his targets. But it did work to his advantage either way.

Also older sisters reaction to GW also had me wondering with the possibilities – the simplest being that she just gets the feeling that he’s dangerous? escalating from there to – does she get a vibe that she should recognize him? DOES she recognize him from somewhere else? Hmmm.
And also, I was thinking (and if this happens I’ll freak) that a better GW strategy was to realize that the real Tae Sung had been about as ill treated as he had been and to team up with him for a massive take down of the rest.

Serious, massive overkill with the dead parents and dog, all in one fell swoop. Are you freaking kidding me, drama writer?? If KNG had not shivered my timbers in Ep 1 with the bathroom stall scene, I’d have blown this drama off without thinking twice after that utter nonsense, except then we got …

…KIM JAE-WOOK’S FACE WHEN HE COLLAPSED AT THE CHALK OUTLINE OF HIS GIRLFRIEND’S DEAD BODY! Oh Dear God, I couldn’t breathe for a few minutes. That was just scary good.

After that scene, that was it for me. I’m all in. Do your worst, drama. I can take you.

“And KNG, Kimutaku wants his hat back…..” I immediately scrolled up and there it was, Ryo’s hat in A Million Stars falling from the sky. If in Bad Guy we have sexy bastard Kim Nam Gil, in A Million Stars you have sexy bastard Kimura Takuya. *sigh*

I had a hunch that childhood scene would irk you. It does cheapen Gun-wook’s revenge scheme a bit, but as long as this is the last we see of his tragic upbringing and the revenge goes on, then I can live with it.

Though I’m excited about what will happen next, I’m really disappointed about the relationship dynamics. Really, Jae-in and Gun-wook get together? REALLY? I guess it would be more typical if Gun-wook fell for Mo-nae (which is what i was hoping for) and too much against his character who we’ve already seen is totally unsympathetic towards the Hongs, but Jae-in’s character is so dull so I’m not sure if I can buy that at this moment. Luckily, it’s still early, so we’ll see how it plays out. It might get a little boring since all the women seem to fall in love with Gun-wook, based on the relationship chart (which is why I think Jae-in should just end up with Tae-sung because she seems too conscious of her own rank in society to actually try seducing someone higher than her), but I’m hopeful that it will play out well enough so that it won’t get boring.

Wouldn’t that be interesting if Tae-ra and Gun-wook had had an affair? I find it doubtful and just think that it’s uppity tight-ass Tae-ra feeling uncomfortable because she’s attracted to a man who isn’t her husband, but if that happened, that’d be all types of awesome.

heh – i like your theory about tae ra and gun wook’s “affair” but i also have a question: is tae ra older or younger than gun wook?

because i wonder if gun wook came to the family before all those kids were born or not. it seems like he’d be the same generation as taesung/kim jae wook because of the mix-up. and therefore tae ra would have already been born and knows him. so does she recognize him as the “mistaken brother”?

or is she someone who married into the family (even though sites are saying that she’s the daughter of the family)?

as for the whole killing the parents thing, i agree that it does take the blame away from the hong family, but what bothered me more is HOW COULD THEY MAKE HIM PAY MORE ATTENTION TO THE DOG!?!?!!?!?! it’s his PARENTS for god’s sakes that he lost. fine – maybe he didn’t recognize that they were in the crash at first, but i think that i would have liked to see him mourn his parents’ death. and maybe then the hong family could have done something or sneered at him at the funeral to make him want revenge.

just emphasizing in a flashback that his dog died is not effective as a motive – i think the writers should have done something with the parents’ death. unless that’s to be seen in later episodes

Ok, maybe it’s just me but I thought that the dog & the accident were 2 different accidents, just shown in parallel (like back & forth) to contrast that he lost everything that night. His “name”, his rich identity, his parents, & even his dog. Cuz after they showed him, his parents were still driving which indicates they weren’t near, and then after the dog gets hit, there doesn’t seem to be anything in the background of that scene (no bg noise etc) which indicated a hit-and-run of sort versus his parents accident scene where there are lots of commotion with ppl being pulled around and walking around & shouting & stuff…?

I think more than that bothering me though, I was wondering how does gun wook’s mom not kno that her son is or isnt the real son of haeshin group. or was it purely to give him a better life? cuz that seems foolish to think that that wont go uncovered o.o

I want to like this drama. Would have love more mystery and twists in it. I feel they reveal too much in 2 episodes.And how can Gun wook be everywhere.The 2 male leads are owning the show at the moment. The females so far are uninteresting. I wonder if this drama will end with a showdown between the 2 males.

Thanks for the recap-
I’m still on neutral with this drama.. but I totally agree w/ you that the back story of his childhood being all abuse is a little bit overboard – I mean does it have to rain for the kid – I mean it HAD to rain to make it more tragic… The dog HAD to killed his parents what even happens to him after i mean… is the kid left alone w/ no one to tend to or at least doesn’t know the true reasons that his parents die. The plot of revenge is too weak

As for Jae-in’s character – Least interesting and at times I feel like she’s irrelevant popping up just to give presents to Monae and the story behind her character is a little iffy as well

as for Gun-wook the main character – i don’t find him appealing at all, i don’t get why there’s all the attraction from the female leads..

@Sweetkiss – Yeah, that’s what I thought too. It wasn’t because of the dog that Gun-Wook’s parents died – it was used to symbolize that Gun-Wook lost everything he had that night. That is why I didn’t think the scene was completely cliche, although I too would have prefered it if the Hongs actually crippled Gun-Wook’s family financially and “killed” them little by little through debts and whatnot.

However, I have to say, I LOVE THIS DRAMA! Yes, I have a sinking feeling that Jae In will become the bane of this drama’s existence, but I’m willing to overlook it for KNG!!!

The death of the parents was definitely overkill. There have been many a drama I stopped watching because the backstory was too much and too unbelievable. Sometimes I’m like jeesh, I get it already (east of eden and insoon is pretty come to mind). I’m choosing to ignore the parents thing, because the rest of the drama intrigues me. But Han Ga In’s character, her story seems a bit silly compared to his. I will decide later if I need to ignore her too. I cant wait to see what happens next!

Thanks Javabeans….am fast falling in love with this drama especially Gun-wook looks like a younger version of Daegil of Chuno. I am not sure if my eyes is playing tricks with me but I found lots of similarities..especially the expression of the eyes…and both are HAWWTTT..lol

I just rewatched the scene and I can’t conclusively tell, but oh man, if those two accidents were separate events, that makes me hate the backstory even MORE. Seriously, two separate accidents on the same night? Yeesh.

Yeah, agreed. The childhood scene was too much! He lost everything in one night. That was effed up. And you couldn’t really blame the Hong family either ..at least not so much. I mean sure they were cruel, but they didn’t really cause his parents death, intentionally. He’s doing all this out of spite.

Hey javabeans, have you ever heard of Maou, a j-dorama starring Ohno Satoshi? It’s pretty much a revenge drama like this one, with the lead masterminding the destruction of his enemies (basically, the rich family who destroyed his family… um, pretty much like the chaebol Hongs here). I figured since you were itching for suspense, you might want to look into it. It also has 11 episodes and already fully subbed. And the thing is, you could say there are similarities to tie in with Bad Guy, as here Gun-wook uses paper cranes to mark his targets, as in Maou the lead (he has 2 names too like Gun-wook here) marks his targets with Tarot cards. It was enjoyable for me (though I don’t know how you might like it) but it’s worth a try…. maybe.

Gunwooks past is fairly boring/bland as it is overly trying to envoke sympathy from its viewers.
I mean I scoffed at the whole tragic past part but i can’t bring myself to hate it.

Me thinks, Gunwook wouldn’t be so bent on revenge unless it involved death in his family–and considering how the writer has made the Hong family extremely snooty booty–i doubt the Hong’s would even want/need money from gunwooks first parents. Instead they would be disgusted. Plus they wouldn’t even think the family was even worth it as they are only commoners in their eyes.
I doubt he would spend time on them when he has his adorable taesung to fawn over.

?I’m pretty sure the two accidents were separate-gotta go back to check on that myself–plus didnt he say at the end “mom/dad come quickly” while putting the hearing aid in the dogs ear?
why would he say that if he saw them die?

Also, I find Gunwooks reason for revenge justified. PTS baby.
Think about it–he’s young, shocked, and traumatized. Who would he blame for all his pain?

Himself? Nahh probably the people who tossed him out
Since I’m a fairly selfish person, if i were Gunwook i would probably do the same as him, push all the blame on someone else.

C’mon, for crying out loud they threw him out in the pouring rain.
I doubt it would’ve hurt them to let him stay inside and wait.

Unrealistic–yes–but for me it fairly works out all right–his reason for wanting revenge.

Gain’s character–i dont like her, i dont hate her. I’m positive that she’ll be a pain in the tush once she develops more but i love how she isnt an extremity.
her want/ pathological?need to be rich is sad and sympathetic.

I like this drama.
the characters are fairly likeable besides mo ne :DD

i’m confused, so are we supposed to understand that gun-wook is the killer? with the cranes and all? are they really going there?! haha making him that level of evil?? i figured that we were supposed to be curious about the identity of the killer, but that the cranes were supposed to lead everybody to point fingers at gun-wook later on…

i have to agree with you abt them laying it too thick with gun-wook’s backstory. The Hongs were cruel to leave him outside in the rain, but everything else was just an unfortunate accident. I was expecting some backstory like Story of a Man.

To be honest, the only parts that seemed enjoyable in this episode were the ones with Shim Eun Kyung and Kim Jae Wook. I was also surprised by Kim Jae Wook. I always thought he was great wallpaper material in dramas…but here, he has proven himself capable of being a lead.

And i totally forgot that Han Ga In was in this drama until she showed up…. I can’t believe Jae-in is still going through with Operation-Golddigger…does she have some pressing monetary problems?? I forgot why she was even chasing after Taesung.

Well there’s nothing perfect in this world…this called drama, so there must be some “silly, absurb, non logical plot”…who says that a drama must have logical plot just like our daily life, even sometimes our life is non-logic too….what I mean is, sometimes a drama is just a drama, not reality..it comes from the writer imagination…and who says imagination must be logic or understandable..it’s just my opinion, because if we always look the flaws, we can’t see the beauty

@danni
i agree with you i would love to see gun wook and mo nae together they look so cute together…poor monae…get hurt twice… i think if it’s mo ne i think her innocence and pure heart can help heal gun wook’s broken heart as cliche as it might be…i would love that coz i think the chemistry is great…

Just a speculation- maybe Gun-wook used the faulty parachutes because it would be to his advantage to have another “ally” on his side. Even though Da-rim seems to be a pointless character in the drama, one can never tell. Besides, she is assistant to the actress, who is having an affair with Se-joong, Mo-nae’s husband-to-be. Perhaps another ploy in the works to further strike at the Hong family?

I don’t think the dog is in the same accident as the parents’? They are in separate accidents along different roads, at least that’s what I gather from the story. Even if the Hongs had not directly killed Gun-wook’s parents, it’s their call that sent them out on the roads on the rainy day. Considering that he’s left with no one, not even the dog and a place to call home and the cruel and harsh treatment meted to him as a child by the Hongs… I can understand his thirst for revenge. But what happens after he has completed his revenge? What would be his motivation to live? Anyway… crippling Gun-wook’s family financially, going to jail, dying in jail… isn’t that typical k-drama fare of the yesteryear?

The theory of an affair or some relationship going on between Gun-wook and Tae-ra sounds plausible but why do I get the idea they have never met before? Tae-ra only looks affected by his appearance but not show signs of recognizing him? Maybe he reminds her of the switched child?

The Hongs were not directly responsible for his parents death, but they ARE responsible for the ultimate destruction of his happiness. If they had not taken him from his loving parents and then thrown him away like trash(literally), none of the following tragedy would have happened. Their actions had consequences..I see this sort of logic in almost all Kdramas, it’s funny that everyone here(who are supposed kdrama fans) are not seeing this.

Also, the Hongs suing his biological parents scenario is a laughable idea. The SCANDAL that would have caused!!! Rich people do not want that sort of thing to “get out”.. This old man is supposedly a chaebol. They would never admit to the public that they had a kid out of wedlock, in court, of all places. That would totally make the whole family “lose face,” which everyone knows cannot happen to koreans..

Anyway, the back story is melodramatic and sort of over the top with the little puppy AND his parents getting killed in front of him in the rain, but everyone please remember we’re watching and KOREAN drama, called “Bad Man.”
Were you seriously expecting Cinema Verite.

Does anyone realise the same track (soulful song sung by a female artiste) appears for almost every character Gun-wook is associated with, including Mo-nae, Jae-in, Tae-sung but I didn’t hear it for Tae-ra though or maybe I missed it?

The accident scene is so ambiguous. There’s enough to suggest that the parents did get into the accident because of the dog and also to suggest that the accidents portrayed were separate but parallel. Either way, I assumed that Gun-wook somehow found out that his parents had died that night as well and that it does factor into his motivations. I’m very curious to know what happened after that night. Where did he go? Who took him in? The Hong’s assistant who messed up? Was it he who messed up? As someone else suggested, how could Gun-wook/Tae-sung’s mother not know, unless she is also an adoptive mother as the deaf dad was. Or as others suggsted, was it that Madame Hong intended the switcheroo, for she was indeed oddly accepting of the wrong Tae-sung? How did the two boys end up being mistaken for one another, especially if tracing the boys involved some adoption agency/orphanage in the United States?

And how did Gun-wook end up being so much the mastermind with access to so much information and such a high-tech, faboo lair?

As for Tae-ra, she’s still married to some big-shot, absentee prosecutor husband. The parents ask before Mo-nae’s birthday get-together as they wait for her to arrive, and Tae-ra makes excuses on her husband’s behalf. Unlike others so far, I find her compelling. I can’t wait to see her being undone by Gun-wook. I anticipate it might elicit more sympathy from viewers than they currently project.

The dead-dog – OMG – I had to go back and watch the scene twice to make sure that they didn’t actually kill a dog. The dog fortunately was still breathing – probably tranquilized since it was so obviously out of it. The scene was traumatizing since the dog’s dead pose reminded me so much of the way my last dog looked when he died.

Moon something that is Han Ga-in’s character – Ugh. The show had better up the ante with her, because she’s – as everyone else has said so far – the least interesting character. (And, unlike others, I find the idea of a Gun-wook/Tae-ra pairing far more tantalizing.)

Mo-nae – the true wild card. She’s both naive and all-too-aware as evidenced in the exchange with Moon whateverhernameis in Mo-nae’s rehearsal studio. She doesn’t let on how well aware she is of the goings-on, since she so smoothly deflects everyone’s (except Gun-wook’s) attempts to encroach, especially Moon’s.

Thank you for such a meaty thought provoking recap, JB! I’m All In with Bad Guy. But I am soaking in the mood and the ambiance and flowing with the story without digging deeper into the how’s and why’s. Cuz I have no clue what’s going to happene even if I have a huge hunch how it’ll all end. So count me strapped on for the sexy ride with KNG.

@ animedork01

The jdorama Maou (The Devil) is actually a remake of the Kdrama Mawang (The Devil). I’ve only seen the Kdrama, which is widely touted as the better of the two. You should check it out to see the original from which Maou was based. I’m not getting the same vibes from BG compared to The Devil, except for the revenge component.

Haha, I didn’t bother much about Gun Wook’s backstory that much.. after all, it’s just a flashback. Just look at the drama as a whole and it’s just a re-hash of all typical Kdrama stereotypes.. nothing really special about it. Save for the fact that the main guy aka KNG gets all the women in here. And I mean all, 5 in total if we count Shim Eun Kyung..hehehe.. 😛

What intrigued me was really the direction, the acting and also the interactions between the characters in the drama. Gun Wook hitting on both his sisters (possible) was really intense and fueled with lust/passion, and I loved how he managed to do it to both ladies at the same time. Tae Sung’s breakdown because of his despised status as the “unknown” son of Hae Shin..etc.

I still can’t quite grasp some of the side stories so far tho. For exampled, the reason Gun Wook tried to be nice to Hye Joo and then acted otherwise in the shower. Maybe it’s because of Mo Nae and her fiance but I didn’t quite buy the story. And the part of him talking to Hye Joo’s assistant, thought it was a bit too random?

As for Kim Jae Wook’s portrayal of Tae Sung, I absolutely loved it. He was forgettable in Coffee Prince, impressive in Antique Bakery, but mesmerizing in here as the torn and wrecked Tae Sung. I think he can definitely equal Kim Nam Gil as the main lead… and I’m already torn between them. The emptiness and loneliness in his eyes… man, can they get more riveting than that?

As for Jae In, I really can’t say much about her. So far she’s just boring and one-dimensional to me. I definitely can understand why one wants to gold-dig, but I don’t buy it from the acting delivered so far. Could be her character, could be the acting. I just don’t feel anything for her. They need to do something to her character for me to feel for her and the GUYS.. there’s nothing worst to have your drama couple bore you with zilch chemistry and bad acting. aiks..

Totally worth watching this drama for the two sexy bastards KNG and KJW! I’d like to argue that KJW always knew how to act (re: Antique Bakery) but was never really given the kind of roles worth exploring. Doesn’t he do theatre as well? But in any case, certainly he’s proven his acting chops here.

Your personal theory of Taera and Gunwook’s affair’s an interesting one (more interesting than plain old she’s-just-being-a-pain-in-the-ass-cos-she’s-rich); as of now, hers is probably the character that interests me the most, even though she’s a bitch. Jae-in’s a little too bland (and…why would she appeal to Tae-sung? It makes no sense to me, whatsoever. Not yet at least). I’m keeping fingers crossed.

One more thing – about the suggestion that Gun-wook is responsible for Tae-sung’s ex’s death. If he’s responsible, it must be only indirectly. The timing is off since it is when Moon is placing a call after she’s hit Gun-wook that we hear a loud thud and scream indicating that someone’s fallen.

I definitely agree with you on the car accident thing. It was pretty much overkill. I am intrigued by Gun Wook and the Hong family, but i find the character of Jae In to be pretty irrelevant and vapid. I know with so many episodes left, there is a lot of time to develop her relationship with the other characters, but as of now, Gun Wook and each of the Hong family’s relationships are so tightly connected whereas Jae In is just remotely connected to barely any of the characters.

The man at the scene of the woman’s death was Gun-wook. Same shoes, same silhouette — if you look closely, you can see that it’s him. I interpreted the scream that Jae-in heard to be a scream of discovery, not a scream of the victim dying. But I’m sure we’ll find that out in due time.

Just wanted to say I agree with you on the backstory, Javabeans. I swear that is always one of the things that makes me want to pull my hair out in frustration of that bad cliche write-in. Hopefully things won’t wander down that road again.

@ockoala Nah, Ma Wang is too long (20 episodes vs 11? I’ll take Ohno any day. But will put it on the list for things to watch… Besides, Maou was still really good … Um in my opinion – which means absolutely nothing to you probably). And you’re right, BG and Maou/Ma Wang do have different stories, but they are similar considering the whole hidden identity, using other people, hating a rich family, and having a signature item thing. As for BG? Still waiting to see if it’s interesting enough for me to get hooked. Jae-in is still not there for me as the leading lady.

Javabeans, although Gun Wook’s childhood put you off, they couldn’t have used the theory you suggested. The theory that the father was put in jail for something he didn’t do, died in jail and the mother working her ass off is used in Prosecutor Princess. WHich is the previous drama on this slot Bad Guy is taking.

Yeh Jae-in is so damn useless. I don’t know why tht character is created in the first place. Pls do not repeat it like in the drama Resurrection. I feel like they created the female lead just for the sake of having a romantic story like, which I didn’t find romantic at all, but grossly irritating and holding back the hero from revenge. I am really2x going to hate Han Ga In if her character turns out to be like that.

Going for a rich guy after being dumped just leave a bad taste in my mouth. Do you think a girl who just got dumped, would have the confidence to attract another man, moreover a revoltingly rich chaebol? The fact that Jae In thinks she can pull it off is proud of herself, implausible and damn empty-headed of her.

Anyway… Chill! I think it’s far too early to jump into conclusions – after all, the drama is supposed to be mystery and they want us to speculate. Only episode 2 after all. I have faith in the scriptwriters not to undermine viewers’ intelligence.

i don’t think that Gun Wook’s childhood tragedy is ridiculuos or cheapen. Just imagine if it happen in my life, i couldn’t resist my self to don’t blame the person who mess up my happiness life despite of the person have direct responsible for that or not. Just imagine that if i lost everything in split of days, i’ll deeply sad for my entire life. So what should i do to make my self feel better? the worst option is get revenge so the person, who make me feel such a horrible hurt, will feel what i feel.

i’m excited and hooked for this drama. Remember that there isn’t perfect in the world. Just enjaoy watch it ^^

all right, hold up, i’m confused—- has anyone speculated yet (nice new subsection, btw ;p) if Sun-Young was connected to gun wook at all? i mean duh– he was there when she died, but HOW are they connected? maybe that adds another layer to the revenge plot that we haven’t explored yet. …not “the slingshot” but i’m still watching. kim jae wook is just not sinister enough because you can see his obvious pain (unlike do woo, who defied all psychological expectations of how he would behave) 😛 …oh well, mind games. GO! 😀